Category Racial Justice

Ally’s corner: A reflection on US holidays by Deborah Kraft

  When I was growing up, a trusted adult in my life misguidedly told me that Kwanzaa was a made up holiday; insinuating other traditions were more worthy of celebration. I remembered those words and repeated them, and it wasn’t…

Mayor Weinberger: “Oops” is Not Enough

-by Rachel Siegel, Executive Director [Edit: Since writing this post, a petition for the Mayor to resign has been created.]   Mayor Miro Weinberger admitted a mistake, but he did not adequately apologize. When one makes a mistake, if they…

Decarceration Statement

The Peace & Justice Center calls for the decarceration & demilitarization of society leading to the eventual abolition of systems of punishment. This statement is put forth by the Board of Directors of the Peace & Justice Center with leader…

Reflections from PJC BIPOC Retreat

The BIPOC members of the PJC staff, board, and racial justice advisory committee spent August 28-31 at beautiful Knoll Farm in Fayston, Vermont. Knoll Farm was generous enough to donate this weekend to the PJC along with many other BIPOC,…

Say What You Mean

-Kina Thorpe, PJC Educational Program Manager The beautiful thing about language is that it is constantly evolving. Sometimes it is hard to keep track of what words are “in” and what words are “out”. Especially in the world of social…

The Loss of Heritage in Pursuit of Whiteness

–Kristen Connors, former PJC staff member Recently, I participated in the Peace & Justice Center’s Toxic Whiteness discussion group for the first time in the two years since I moved from Vermont to Cleveland, Ohio.  Members of my extended family…

Rename the Brook: Susanna Toby of Townshend, Vermont

-Elise Guyette; author, historian, and PJC member We propose to change the name of “Negro Brook” in Townshend to Susanna Toby Brook. Susanna (1750– 1855) lived in Townshend, sometimes Acton, beginning as early as 1810 for at least 40 years. She…

Racial Justice Work in VT Webinar Follow Up

We were grateful to host the webinar on Racial Justice Work in Vermont. Being able to highlight such a range of work related to Racial Justice was inspiring. It is our hope that people who attended will choose at least…